The proposed research explores fright reactions produced in children by frightening mass media presentations. A developmental perspective is emphasized. Both experimental and survey research are proposed to answer the following questions: (1) what types of programs and mass media stimuli frighten children the most at different developmental stages: and (2) what types of intervention schemes and coping strategies are most effective at different stages? Most of the data to be collected will be used to test a series of developmental hypotheses based on theoretical distinctions drawn in the writings and research of Piaget. The major developmental distinction involves hypothesized differences between preoperational and operational thought (roughly ages 2-6 versus age 7 and over). A series of experiments is proposed in which preoperational and operational children are exposed to the same manipulated variables, and an interaction between developmental stage and the manipulation is expected on measures of fright (assessed physiologically, observationally, and through self-report). Among the characteristics of preoperational thought that are being tested are (1) egocentrism, (2) centration, (3) failure to comprehend transformations, (4) lack of equilibrium, (5) concreteness, and (6) failure to distinguish play and reality. The experiments involve the manipulation of media presentations themselves, the induction of different cognitive sets, and the use of a variety of coping strategies. The survey research is designed primarily to test for hypothesized developmental differences in the stimuli which induce fright and the coping strategies employed when fright occurs.